Conventional textile yarn processing machines, such as spinning and twisting machines or the like, include a plurality of rotating spindles disposed in generally straight lines and positioned on each side of the machine and carried by a stationary frame of the machine. A ring rail mechanism is vertically reciprocated up and down about each line of spindles on each side of the machine for guiding yarn being processed by the machine onto bobbins carried by the spindles in predetermined patterns for building packages of processed yarn. Builder motion mechanisms are provided which are connected with the ring rail for reciprocating the ring rail in predetermined desired patterns during normal yarn processing.
Yarn guide means are associated with each of the spindles and in later designs of yarn processing machines are mounted for vertical reciprocating movement up and down with the ring rail for guiding yarn to the ring rail and to the spindles during yarn processing.
After the packages of processed yarn have been built on the spindles of the machine, it is necessary to lower the ring rail mechanism to a position lower than a normal operating position below the bobbins on the spindles. It is usually also necessary to move the yarn guide devices away from the axes of the spindles for doffing the full packages of processed yarn from the spindles. When the ring rail is lowered to the doffing position, it is necessary to rewind the builder motion mechanisms of the yarn processing machine for subsequent building of new packages of processed yarn.
After the packages of processed yarn have been doffed, the ring rail mechanism of the machine is raised to an operating position by the builder motion mechanisms and the yarn guides are returned to their processing position axially above the spindles for starting-up of the processing of new packages of yarn on the spindles. Since slack, kinks and yarn tails are usually present in the yarn during the start-up operation, the ring rail must be jogged up and down adjacent the lower end of the bobbins on the spindles for removing the slack, kinks and tails in the yarn so that a satisfactory start-up operation is accomplished. Also, a bunch of yarn or a tie down end of yarn is desired to be formed on the lower end of the package for well-known purposes in continued use of the package of processed yarn and for this purpose the ring rail is jogged up and down to build a bunch of yarn around the bottom of the package or the ring rail is held in a lower position or jogged only slightly up and down for wrapping a tie down end of yarn around the bottom of the package.
Customarily, the lowering of the ring rail to its doffing position after packages of processed yarn have been built on the spindles of the machine was accomplished manually by a foot pedal mechanism upon which an operator places his foot and presses down on the foot pedal under his own weight to lower the ring rail to a doffing position against the counterbalanced weight of the builder motion mechanisms. When allowing the ring rail to raise under the influence of the counterbalanced weight of builder motion mechanisms from the doffing position to the start-up position, the operator customarily controlled the speed of such upward movement of the ring rail by his foot on the foot pedal device. Also the jogging operation of the ring rail for start-up to remove slack, kinks and tails and to build a bunch of yarn or a tie down end of yarn around the bottom of the package was accomplished manually by the operator utilizing the foot pedal of the machine.
A large amount of pressure or weight is required for this manual lowering operation of the ring rail and the manual control of the speed of the raising operation of the ring rail and normally from about 100- 200 pounds of pressure or weight is required for lowering the ring rail against the counterbalanced weight of the builder motion mechanisms. Obviously, the operator who manually lowers and raises the ring rail mechanism of a yarn processing machine of this type must be of sufficient size and strength to exert this amount of pressure or weight and this type of manual operation has normally precluded the use of female or small operators.
The moving of the yarn guide mechanisms from their processing position to their doff position has customarily heretofore been performed manually by the operator during doff and start-up operations. Also, the rewinding of the builder motion mechanisms has customarily heretofore been performed manually by the operator when the ring rail is in the doff position thereof by a lever inserted into such builder motion mechanisms for manually rewinding thereof.
The above described prior conventional operations during doffing and starting-up of yarn processing machines of this type and the customary preparation of the various elements of the machine for the doff and start-up operations are well-known to those with ordinary skill in the art and further explanation and description thereof is not believed necessary herein for a background of the present invention.
Although the above-described manual operations or the more customary and conventional, various mechanisms have heretofore been proposed for aiding the operator or at least partially automating these manual operations necessary for doffing and starting-up of the yarn processing machine. However, these previously proposed mechanisms have all been generally unsatisfactory due to the failure to perform desired functions, lack of the proper control on the sequential positioning of the various machine elements during their operations, their complicated and cumbersome construction and operation, and their lack of uniformity in the doff and start-up operating sequences, etc.
For example, the following prior art patents suggest devices for aiding the operator in lowering of the ring rail during doff and start-up operations:
______________________________________ U.S. Patent No. Inventor issue Date ______________________________________ 2,503,099 Culbreath April 4, 1950 2,798,356 Christiansson July 9, 1957 3,080,701 Kennedy et al March 12, 1963 3,124,925 Kennedy et al March 17, 1964 3,175,350 Powell et al March 30, 1965 3,336,739 Sanders et al August 22, 1967 3,357,167 Jones et al December 12, 1967 3,566,598 Godfrey March 2, 1971 ______________________________________
Of the above listed patents, U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,739, issued Aug. 22, 1967 is exemplary and suggest a pneumatically operated piston and cylinder mechanism which is non-positively connected by a flexible chain to the crank arm of the builder motion mechanisms of the textile yarn processing machine disclosed therein for aiding in lowering of this ring rail during doff and start-up operations. The flexible non-positive connection between the air operated piston and cylinder and the builder motion mechanism crank arm would operate only to assist in moving the crank arm and thus the ring rail in the lowering direction and could not operate to assist movement of or control the speed of raising of the ring rail. While movement of the crank arm for lowering of the ring rail against the weight of the builder motion mechanism is primarily desired, it would also be necessary in a mechanism of this design to control the speed of upward movement of the ring rail under the counterbalance weight of the builder motion mechanisms or to assist and provide a positive force for upward movement of the ring rail mechanisms, particularly in the case of older yarn processing machines which have worn bearings or operating parts thereof.
The mechanisms suggested by this prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,739 and the other prior art patents listed above would not function to control the speed of upward movement of the ring rail or to assist in providing a positive force for upward movement of the ring rail. Therefore, in the absence of a foot pedal device and manual operation by an operator to control the speed of upward movement of the ring rail under the influence of the counterbalanced weighted builder motion mechanisms, damage to the machine, ring rail and other operating parts would probably occur during upward movement of the ring rail.
Mechanisms have also been suggested for pivotally moving yarn guide devices in textile yarn processing machines of the type considered herein between processing and doffing positions, such as illustrated in the following prior art patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Patent No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 1,549,288 Borovoy August 11, 1925 1,796,390 Owen March 17, 1931 3,336,739 Sanders et al August 22, 1967 ______________________________________
Of the above listed patents, U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,739 is exemplary and suggests pivotally mounted yarn guide mechanisms movable between a processing and doffing position by a pneumatically operated piston and cylinder device which is mounted stationary on the machine frame. With this arrangement, the yarn guides necessarily must also be mounted stationary and the pneumatic piston and cylinder arrangement of this patent would not function on the preferred vertically reciprocating yarn guide arrangements. The remaining patents disclose equally inefficient and undesirable yarn guide mechanisms.
Automatic devices for rewinding of builder motion mechanisms in yarn processing machines of the type considered herein have also been previously suggested, such as disclosed in the following prior art patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Patent No. Inventor issue Date ______________________________________ 2,373,263 Rowe April 10, 1945 3,138,339 Jones June 23, 1964 3,336,739 Sanders et al August 22, 1967 3,524,311 Browver August 18, 1970 ______________________________________
The builder motion rewind mechanisms of the above patents are all subject to problems of rewinding of the builder motion mechanisms in the middle of the build of a package of yarn when the yarn processing machine is stopped for correcting of some malfunction in the yarn processing. To overcome this problem, most of the prior automatic rewind mechanisms have included some positive clutch or electrical control device for operating the rewind mechanisms only when the ring rail is in its doff position. While these types of control devices for the automatic rewind mechanisms have overcome the above specific problem, they have presented other problems in the complicated designs of the automatic rewind mechanisms which have resulted in numerous malfunctions and the need for frequent repairs.
Although other mechanisms for aiding and at least partially automating the normal manual preparation of the elements of a textile yarn processing machine for doffing and starting-up may have been suggested, it is believed that the above listed prior art patents are representative of previously proposed mechanisms.